Red Rock: A Chronicle of Reconstruction

by Thomas Nelson Page

  CHAPTER XLII

  CAPTAIN ALLEN SURRENDERS

  The effect of Leech’s return to power was soon visible, and the gloomin the old County was never so deep as it became after that. Thefailure of Steve’s daring and high-handed step but intensified this. Itappeared as if a complete overthrow had come at last.

  As is often the case when unexpected failure has come to brilliant andpromising plans, popular opinion veered suddenly; and whereas, but alittle before, all were full of wonder at Steve Allen’s daring coup,now that it had failed many were inclined to blame him. He ought eitherto have let the Ku Klux, who, it was understood, had tried to get holdof Leech, deal with him, or else have let him alone. Now he had butintensified his malice, as was shown by the rancor with which he waspushing the prosecutions. He had given Leech a national reputation, andincreased his power to do harm.

  Captain Allen was deeply offended by some of the things said about himby certain of the members of the secret society, and he met them withfierce denunciation of the whole order. It was, he said, no longer theold organization which, he asserted, had acted for the public good, andwith a high purpose. That had ceased to exist. This was a cowardly bodyof cut-throats, who rode about the country under cover of darkness,perpetrating all sorts of outrages and villainies for purposes ofprivate vengeance. He gave them to understand clearly that he was notafraid of them, and denounced and defied the whole gang.

  But one thing Steve could not meet so well. He could not meet thecharge that his wild and reckless act in carrying Leech off had, in thesequel, done harm, and had intensified the hostility shown to the oldCounty, and increased the rigor with which the citizens were treated.Even the friends who adhered stoutly to him were forced to admit that,as it turned out, his carrying Leech off was unfortunate. The downcastlooks and the gloom that appeared everywhere told him how deeply thepeople were suffering. Another thing stuck deeper in his heart. He wasat liberty and his friends in prison. Jacquelin was in prison underindictment when he had taken his place, and but for him would be a freeman.

  Steve had thought at times of leaving the State and going West.Rupert’s career there showed what might be accomplished. But this ideapassed away now in the stress of the present crisis. He would not leavethe State in the hour of her darkness. He could not leave his friends.It would be desertion.

  Another cause of anxiety began to make itself apparent to CaptainAllen about the same time. He knew, as the reader knows, that CaptainAurelius Thurston had long been an ardent, if a somewhat intermittent,suitor of Miss Welch; though his information was derived, not from thecold statement of the chronicler, but through those intuitions withwhich a lover appears to be endowed for his self-torture as well asfor his security. Miss Ruth, it is true, had denied the charge, madefrom time to time, respecting Captain Thurston; but we know that thesedenials are frequently far short of satisfying a lover’s jealousy. Andit must be confessed that she had never taken the trouble to state toCaptain Allen the explicit and somewhat decisive conditions under whichshe had consented to continue the friendship.

  Captain Thurston, thus cut off from his habitual occupation in thatquarter, shortly after his arrival, as has been seen, went back to hisold flame, Miss Elizabeth Dockett, and was soon as deeply immersed inthat affair as he had ever been with Miss Welch. As Miss Elizabeth,however, treated him with unexampled rigor, and Mrs. Dockett never foran instant permitted him to forget that he was occupying the positionof a tyrant, the Captain found himself obliged to seek at times theaid of a friendly ally, and turned for consolation to Miss Welch, whocheerfully rendered him in another’s behalf all the service she haddeclined in her own. Thus the little Captain was much more welcome atthe Welches’ home than he had ever been before, and rumor was kindenough to declare that his attentions were far from being unacceptable.His duties at the court-house, as Commandant of the County, weresufficient to account for all the time he spent there, includingwhatever hours he passed at the old Dockett place among the trees andlilacs, while his presence at the Welches’ could only be attributed toone cause.

  This report reached Captain Allen, lounging on the verandas of hisfriends, and it did not serve to make his life as a refugee and exilemore agreeable.

  Matters were in this condition when the news came that the next weekhad been set as the time for the trial of the Red Rock prisoners. JudgeBail had already arrived, accompanied by McRaffle. A special jury wasbeing selected, and the witnesses were being summoned. They were a setto make the outlook as dark as possible—Bushman, and Perdue, and Dr.Moses, and a score of the worst negroes in the County. Captain Allenknew that Leech had said he would rather have him than all the otherprisoners put together. And at length came a definite statement thatLeech would abandon the other prosecutions if Allen would surrenderhimself and stand trial. It had come through McRaffle, who claimed tohave secured this concession.

  Next day, Steve rode down to the court-house, and, giving his horseto a negro, with directions to send him to Dr. Cary’s, walked acrossto Captain Thurston’s camp. A number of his friends saw him, and camecrowding up with wonder and curiosity in their faces. Steve spoke tothem cheerily, stopped and chatted lightly for awhile, and then leftthem and walked quietly across the green to the camp, leaving themstaring after him open-eyed and with anxious faces. He knocked at thedoor of the office which was the Captain’s head-quarters, and, on beingbid to enter, opened the door.

  Perhaps there was not a man in the world whom Reely Thurston would notrather have seen at that moment than Steve Allen. He sprang to his feetas Steve entered, and stared at him in blank amazement. He had no ideawhy he had come, and, for an instant, perhaps, supposed it was withhostile intent. This idea, however, Steve at once dissipated by hismanner.

  “Good-morning, Captain Thurston.” He held out his hand, and, havingshaken hands with the Captain, flung himself into a seat.

  “Give me a cigar. I have come to have a talk with you,” he said,lightly. Thurston handed him a cigar and lit one himself, his faceperplexed and a little troubled as he pondered on what could possiblyhave brought him this visitor. Steve saw his perplexity and smiled.

  “I have come to see what terms I can make through you, Captain, beforeI give myself up.”

  “Wait. I am not authorized to make any terms. I must notify you——”Thurston was beginning very seriously. But Steve interrupted him.

  “I did not say _with_ you, but _through_ you. I would not place you insuch an embarrassing position. I suppose you would not mind seeing whatterms you could make with your friend, Colonel Leech.” Thurston flushed.

  “He is no friend of mine,” he said, hotly.

  “Oh, I thought you had made up,” said Steve, maliciously. “Well, hewill be if you give me up to him. But I thought you might make a littlebetter terms for me than I could for myself, as he seems to prefer thecity to the country just now, and I fear a communication from me wouldnot meet with the consideration at his hands that the closeness of ourintimacy a short time since should secure for it.”

  “What the d—l are you driving at, Allen?” asked Thurston. “You knowwhat I think of Leech, and how he regards me. But that does not alterthe fact that I am sent here to catch—to apprehend you—and if I do myduty I should have you arrested.”

  “Of course, Captain Thurston, do your duty,” said Steve, coolly, hisface hardening a little and his upper lip curling slightly.

  “No, no, Allen. I did not mean it that way. I am only trying to get atwhat you want. I am a little mystified.”

  His evident friendliness soothed Steve’s feelings, which had beenruffled by his former speech.

  “I want to see whether I would not be accepted as a propitiatoryoffering in place of my friends—of others who have done nothing, anddeserve no punishment. I am the head and front of the whole business. Iam responsible for all they are charged with, and they are not. And Iwant to get them released, and give myself up in their place.”

  Thurston looked deeply troubled. He shook his head thought
fully.

  “I do not want to arrest you. I must say that you are the last personin the world that I wanted to see. But if you stay here, I must arrestyou. If, however, you came here with any idea that I would—I mean,that I could—make terms with you, I do not wish to take advantage ofyour mistake. There is a door. You can walk out of it while I go andcall the sergeant of the guard.”

  Steve shook his head.

  “No, no. I am going to give myself up, anyhow. It is the only thing Ican do to help them. Perhaps, if these scoundrels get me, they may letthe others off. I am the one they are after. But I want you to assistme. You are a gentleman, and can appreciate my position.”

  Thurston looked at him a moment, and then reached out his hand.

  “Allen, I promise you I will do all I can.”

  The two men shook hands across the table; and Steve, settling himselfcomfortably, gave Thurston an account of all that had taken placebetween himself and Leech the night of his capture, and between himselfand the band of Ku Klux the night they had come to take Leech from theplace where he had confined him. He showed Thurston that he had knownof the plan to rescue him.

  “But why did you carry him off?” asked Thurston. “I can understand allthe rest; but I do not see how a man of your sense could have supposedthat you could accomplish anything by such an act.”

  “It was to gain time, Captain Thurston, and to tide over a crisis; andthat it did. You do not know how desperate we are. Let me explain. Butfor that, Dr. John Cary and Jacquelin Gray would to-day be wearingconvict suits. Leech had already appointed the time for that. I tidedover that crisis.”

  He went on, and gave Thurston an account of all that had taken place inthe County under Leech’s régime since Thurston had left. It opened theyoung officer’s eyes, and, when Steve was through, Thurston’s face wasfilled with a new sympathy.

  “Allen, I will do all I can for you,” he said, again. And he did. Hewrote to Middleton and his friends.

  The news that Steve Allen had surrendered himself caused the greatestcommotion not only there, but throughout the rest of the State. Evenfar outside the South it was regarded as a most important incident;and the newspapers declared that it was the signal of a completecollapse of the opposition to the Government. Steve was representedas every species of brigand, from the sneaking lawbreaker who enteredhouses under cover of night to the dashing, bold, mountain robber anddesperado who held passes and fought battles with Government troops,and levied tribute on the surrounding country.

  The man who profited by all this was Jonadab Leech.

  He immediately took advantage of the turn in affairs to exploithimself, and to strengthen the foundation of his re-established plans.When he first heard that Steve Allen had surrendered himself, he couldnot believe it; but when the report was verified, he was wild withjoy. He told, again and again, with many new embellishments, the storyof his seizure and incarceration, and the horrors of the midnightmeeting when he was tried and condemned to death without a hearing.(In his later relations there was an intimation of threats of torturehaving been used, and no mention of the mode of his escape.) He hadvisited the national capital, and he redoubled his energies in pushingthe prosecutions of the Red Rock prisoners. He declared that nothingcould be done until these men were punished, and the authority of theGovernment asserted. He contrived effectually to create fresh doubts asto the zeal of the Governor, and to supplant him as the representativeof the Government. His star was once more in the ascendent. Hisfortunes were more promising than ever. His ambition had taken a higherleap, and he felt that now no power could keep him from the attainmentof his wishes.

  His whole attitude and relation to his former friends changed. Whyshould he handicap himself by attempting to carry the burden of Stilland his tottering fortunes? He gave Still plainly to understand that hehad higher aims than merely to obtain a few thousand acres of farmingland. He was now a public man, and affairs of State were occupying hisattention. To be sure, he continued to act as his counsel, and bled hisclient for ever-renewed fees in a way that made Still groan and curse.But this was all. He was engaged now in loftier aims. His name had beenmentioned in the national Senate, in connection with the plans for the“pacification” of the section for which he spoke; and someone asked,“Who is Colonel Leech?”

  “I will tell you who he is,” said the Senator who was quoting him. “Heis a man who in a short time will be your compeer on the floor of thisbody.”

  This retort was unction to Leech’s soul.

  Meantime the last hope of the old County was being destroyed. A blackpall seemed to have covered them. The local press raved in impotentrage, and declared that open war would be better than the oppression towhich they were subjected.

  Just at this juncture, when Steve’s surrender and Leech’s triumphseemed to have put the uttermost affliction on the people, the orderwhich Senator Rockfield had secured from the authorities came, and theprisoners named in it were released on bail. The order, however, havingbeen issued before Captain Allen surrendered himself, did not includehis name or apply to him. So when Dr. Cary, General Legaie, JacquelinGray, Andy Stamper, and the other residents of Red Rock were released,Captain Allen was still held, and bail was refused in his case. Theissuing of that order and the discharge of the other Red Rock prisonersinspired Leech to hurry up the prosecution of Captain Allen. Thurstonwas working for him, and Senator Rockfield was beginning to investigatematters in the State. Bolter had written an urgent letter respectingthe railway investments, and had said that Middleton was interested andhad come home on Major Welch’s advice to see about the matter, and wastalking of coming South. So Leech could not tell when new difficultiesmight arise.

  It was soon rumored that the Government would make a test case of theprosecution of Steve Allen, as the leader and head of the resistanceto it. Leech was moving heaven and earth to secure his conviction, andwas staking everything on this issue. Leech did not even deny it. Herushed forward his prosecution. If he could get Steve Allen shut upwithin the walls of a Government prison for a term of years, he wouldbe free to carry out his schemes; and of this he had no doubt. JudgeBail was to try Steve, and the witnesses were being got together byMcRaffle. Leech did not want to prosecute Steve for a minor offence,such as the rescue of Rupert. He wished to put him entirely out ofthe way. A long term only would now satisfy him. The offences withwhich Steve was charged were not grave enough, the penalties not heavyenough. The attack on the jail had been thrown into the background bythe more recent outrages committed by the Ku Klux. Prosecution forthe seizure of Leech himself would look like personal hostility, andweaken his cause; and, besides, some awkward facts might come out inthe development of the case. Thurston would be sure to tell how he hadescaped, and the whole story would come out and create sympathy withthe prisoner, and bring ridicule upon himself.

  So Leech suddenly made a change of base. He desired to pose as apublic-spirited man. He determined to drop the prosecution for theattack on the jail, and prosecute Steve Allen for the Ku Klux outrages,as to which the Government was more particularly interested. Thedifficulty was to establish Allen’s active connection with the Ku Klux.Leech knew of his own knowledge, from Allen’s statement to the assemblyin the room above his prison that night, that Steve had left theorder and opposed them at that time, if he had ever belonged to theirorganization. So he was somewhat at a loss to prove his connection withthem as an active member. Accident, however, suddenly threw in his waythe means to accomplish his wish, and to punish two enemies at once.

  Leech had been in the upper end of the County looking after witnesses,when he met Miss Welch, who was on her way home from Dr. Cary’s. Shegave him a cold bow, and was passing on; but Leech stopped her with aninquiry after her father.

  “He is very well,” said the girl, coldly.

  “I suppose he, like all loyal men, is rejoicing over the capture atlast of the head of all the trouble that has been going on down here?”Leech’s face wore a soft smile.

  “I was not a
ware that Captain Allen was captured. I thought hesurrendered.” Ruth’s color deepened in spite of herself.

  “Well, we have him safe at last, anyhow,” smiled Leech, “and I guesswe’ll keep him. No doubt your father is as much pleased as anyone. Itputs an end to the outrages down here, and your father, of all men,should rejoice. He is too good a citizen not to.”

  “He is too good a man to rejoice in anyone’s misfortunes,” said Ruth,warmly; “and Captain Allen has had nothing to do with the outrages yourefer to. He never had anything to do with the Ku Klux except once ortwice. I have his own word for it.”

  Leech’s eyes were resting on her face.

  “Ah! You have it on good authority.” His tone was most polite.

  But Ruth fired up.

  “I have. Captain Allen is a gentleman; and when he says that he hasnever had anything to do with the Ku Klux since the first or secondtime they acted in this County, I am sure it is so. What he has donesince then he did alone.” She could not resist this shot.

  Leech did not appear to mind it. His mild eyes were glowing with asudden light, almost of joy.

  “No doubt, no doubt,” he murmured. And, as Ruth was moving on,

  “Please remember me kindly to your father and mother.”

  As she rode away Leech actually slapped his thigh, and he smiled allthe way home.